Sunday storms make their mark

Sunday’s storms could not have come at a more perfect time for Carnamah farmer Brendan Hoysler.

He had just finished seeding two-thirds of his program in the hope the weather would soon turn.

Mr Hoysler was this week crossing his fingers the 23mm downpour at his farm would be enough to germinate crops.

Hailstorms were also reported in the region on the same day, and further away at Kellerberrin as well.

Dozens of people took to the WA Wheatbelt Rainfall Facebook page to show pictures of sloppy paddocks, wet verandas and unexpected smatterings of hail.

But other properties received “next to nothing”, including Cameron Levett’s farm 20km north-east of Carnamah, which tallied up 2mm.

Mr Levett said he was surprised to hear about the hail — which had inundated the local football oval — and was holding out hope for a 15-20mm downpour.

“We are waiting for rain, for the start of winter,” he said.

“Some areas of our paddocks are a little bit dried out. There is no evidence of summer rain on the soil there.

“Rain could come soon and that would be nice but we can’t see any coming for the next couple of weeks.”

The Levetts kicked off their seeding program this week and have so far planted 200ha of canola.

Mr Hoysler said he was in town when the hail hit, and the rainfall that had followed varied from “nothing to 23mm” in nearby areas.

“I took a video of the football oval which had turned white,” he said. “The kids were enjoying playing with it after.

“I was standing with a bloke who was 60 and he said he’d never seen anything like it.

“There was no damage at our property — I had a couple of big weeds that got belted around, so that was good.”

Police closed the Kellerberrin-Bencubbin Road and a series of gravel roads to its north on Sunday night after flash flooding.

Carnamah District High School teacher Laura Kerr captured an incredible image of hail on the school playground. She said students were excited to see the hail, which had almost looked like snow.

The Bureau of Meteorology’s current seasonal outlook suggested Sunday’s storms might be the only wild weather WA’s southern regions will see for a while.